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Whenever someone says “I don’t see color,” I think back to a time when I didn’t notice it either.

I was a little girl, excited to open Christmas gifts. One Christmas Eve, my parents were wrapping presents while I pretended to be asleep. I peeked through their cracked door as they pulled a life-size Kelly doll out of a box that had shipped earlier that day.

It was exactly what I’d asked for, and I was ecstatic – but my parents weren’t pleased. Apparently, this wasn’t the doll they’d meant to order.

This doll was white.

I’d never noticed before that my dolls were a different color from the ones shown in commercials. I understand now that my parents only bought me dolls of color so that I could play with something that looked like me. I understand that they wanted to raise me in a pro-black household where I could love my complexion. But back then, I didn’t care about any of that – I simply wanted the Kelly doll, no matter what color…Read more at Everyday Feminism.

Like this:

A few months ago, I was enjoying comedian Aziz Ansari’s Netflix show Master of None. The series had been applauded for tackling issues like racism in Hollywood, interracial relationships, and street harassment. But I was watching purely because I think Aziz, the co-creator and star, is pretty funny.

Halfway through the season, the show began to turn me off. During the episode “Indians on TV,” Dev, Ansari’s character, is copied on a racist email about casting Indian actors for a show. When Dev’s friend suggests that he leak the email, he responds, “People don’t get that fired up about racist Indian or Asian stuff. I feel like you only really risk starting a brouhaha if you say something bad about black people or gay people.”… Read more at The Establishment.

Like this:

Some of you seem to think that celebrating Blackness is anti-American.

Spoiler alert: It isn’t.

Are you mad that Beyoncé came hella Black at the Super Bowl? Are you mad that her backup dancers’ outfits paid homage to the Black Panthers? Does it really “grind your gears” that she mentioned her baby’s nappy hair?

Unsurprisingly, you are the same bunch that calls peaceful protestors “thugs” and “rioters.” You’re the same people that got behind #AllLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter (Side note: how can both “all lives” and “blue lives” both matter at the same time? Doesn’t #BlueLivesMatter sound just as exclusionary as you say #BlackLivesMatter is?)

Can’t you understand that everything is NOT for you? You already have the Oscars, white-washed Egyptian casts, the next presidency, white privilege, Stacey Dash, and most of the other months of the year.

Beyoncé’s performance was not for you. It was for Black History Month, for the anniversary of the Black Panther Party, for a celebration of Blackness, and much more.

In a society where Black people have been looked upon as second-class citizens, where politicians do nothing about our issues, where our justice system fails to acknowledge the loss of our innocent lives to their establishment, we continue to prosper. We collectively slay with #BlackGirlMagic and we continue to seek justice and equality despite all roadblocks. So excuse us if we feel like twerking celebratory when Beyoncé says she keeps hot sauce in her purse.

And if you can’t handle us celebrating our blackness, you may want to ask yourself why blackness is so offensive to you. You may need to consider why everything has to be the “white way” in order for you to accept it. You may want to look at why you always have to make your whiteness a priority.

And ask yourself: Why am I a racist?

It’s 2016, y’all. If you don’t want progress in our nation, which includes the advancement of people of color, then you sound like the anti-American ones to me.

Because people like me want better for our country. We want to expose and demolish racist systems of oppression. We want to feel like equal American citizens. We know that may take a while.

But if you all would collectively back away from your keyboards and cease the movement of your tongues, it’ll only take a few minutes for you #BoycottBeyonce assholes to STFU.